Currently only Inflectra is available in the US market - which accounts for two thirds of Remicade sales - but Samsung's biosimilar is expected to be launched later this year adding to the pressure on J&J's brand.

J&J chief executive Alex Gorsky told analysts that he is confident in the prospects for J&J's important immunotherapy franchise, which along with Remicade also includes psoriasis and Crohn's disease therapy Stelara (ustekinumab).

Despite a much more competitive operating environment with opposition from interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitors including Novartis' fast-growing Cosentyx (secukinumab) - which outperformed J&J's drug in head-to-head trials - Stelara still grew more than 22% to $983m in the second quarter.

Gorsky said that J&J expects to be able to grow Stelara at a "very strong rate" thanks to its solid data, the high prevalence of the diseases it treats and "a lot of unmet medical need".

J&J now has an IL-23 inhibitor Tremfya (guselkumab) ready to take on Cosentyx and other IL-17-tageting competitors - Eli Lilly with Taltz (ixekizumab), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals with Siliq (brodalumab) - which claimed an earlier-than-expected FDA approval for psoriasis last week.

Gorsky said the new drug "represents a very significant opportunity going forward", and analysts at Berenberg have predicted that the drug - which costs around $58,000 per year roughly in line with its biologic rivals - could reach more than $3bn at peak.

The company reckons Tremfya combines good efficacy with "Stelara-like safety" and a less intensive dosing regimen that will stand it in good stead in the market.

Overall J&J's group sales rose almost 2% to $18.9bn in the second quarter, with novel oral anticoagulant (NOAC) Xarelto (rivaroxaban) rising 8% to $642m in the quarter and multiple myeloma therapy Darzalex (daratumumab) almost tripling to $299m compared to a year ago, thanks to expanded indications including second-line use.

This is the first set of financial results for J&J since it closed the acquisition of Swiss biotech Actelion, a specialist in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), on June 16. While the deal came too late to have a significant impact on this quarter's figures, Gorsky said he sees "great opportunities with this business - starting with the treatment of the disease itself, addressing PAH earlier, producing better outcomes and expanding into new patient populations".